Ekushey-award winning Rabindra Sangeet singer Papia Sarwar has been admitted to Impulse Hospital at Tejgaon in the capital after she fell sick seriously.

Family sources said physicians at the hospital on Wednesday afternoon placed her on life support.

Papia Sarwar has been suffering from cancer over the last couple of years. She has been undergoing treatment at the hospital over the last four days.

Papia Sarwar`s elder sister`s daughter actor Shampa Reza confirmed it.

She said Papia Sarwar`s physical condition is very alarming. Physicians are trying their best for her recovery. The rest depends on Allah. She also sought blessings of all for Papia Sarwar.

Shompa Reza also said her two cousins -- Zara and Jishan -- live in the USA and Canada. They have left for the country receiving the news of their mother`s illness.

Papia Sarwar earned Rabindra Award from Bangla Academy in 2013, Bangla Academy Fellowship in 2015 and Ekushey Padak in 2021.

She was born in Dhaka. She took music lessons from Atiqul Islam, Waheedul Haq, Sanjida Khatun and Zahidur Rahim at Chhayanaut in 1966 and later at Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts. She was a student of the Department of Zoology at the University of Dhaka.

In 1973, she received a scholarship from the Government of India to study Rabindra Sangeet at Biswa Bharati University in Santiniketan. In Biswa Bharati University, she was trained in classical music in Rabindra Sangeet under Santidev Ghosh, Subinoy Roy, Kanika Banerjee and Nilima Sen.